?

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

"The program's design parameters allow for sifting through incredible amounts of data, flagging incidents and activity throughout the data set," it said, as though it were quoting something. "Originally shaped for and designed with other Fears in mind, but-- but-- but--"

It paused again, articles flashing by once more.

"Statement of Annabelle Cane," a different voice says with a sigh. "Regarding her history and her observations of the Magnus Institute, London. Original statement written 20th July, 2018. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist. Statement begins. . ."

It goes on, a musing on the idea of fate and free will, a possible story involving the young Annabelle Cane. And it ends with the words, "Don't go to Hill Top Road again. Statement ends."

She took a step back briefly, laying down bullet points of the statement, future things to look into, and other notes. This program was going to prove very, very useful.

“The walls between realities have been getting thin. And so, I contacted your. . . patron. The web takes a great deal of interest in the concept of other realities, after all. Depending on how things go in this one, it might be the only way for things to progress, and. . .”

“And you contacted the Crawling Chaos expecting a straight answer? That doesn’t seem very smart of you.”

“No, the Crawling Chaos doesn’t deal with straight information, not unless it’s a deal and exchange,” Annabelle said, giving an almost smile. “For a being of chaos, it’s very attached to its rules. We had a brief correspondence. And the crux of the matter is, the walls of this reality are wearing away because you are destabilizing them. And here’s where we come to your choice.”

It paused again. Leaving out something, it seemed, because when the computer began to talk again, it didn't make sense with the last sentence.

"But from the deal the Crawling Chaos described, there are two choices, and you have refused one of them.”

“Oh?”

The crew had made lots of jokes about Lyf being considered an eldritch god, at points. Nobody on the crew really though of them as one, though. “God” was a term with no definition, really. Lyf was immortal, yes, but so was everyone else on the crew, and none of them were gods. They had more power over reality, but they were just Lyf.

She filed away the idea of them being a god for later. Lyf had enough on their hands, right now, and Ivy had other goals to focus on.

She went back to the search bar. Stell needed to find a way back, and Lyf could help them with that. Ivy’s goal right now was to make sure it was safe. She typed in her next search:

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

"The program's design parameters allow for sifting through incredible amounts of data, flagging incidents and activity throughout the data set," it said, as though it were quoting something. "Originally shaped for and designed with other Fears in mind, but-- but-- but--"

It paused again, articles flashing by once more.

"Statement of Annabelle Cane," a different voice says with a sigh. "Regarding her history and her observations of the Magnus Institute, London. Original statement written 20th July, 2018. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist. Statement begins. . ."

It goes on, a musing on the idea of fate and free will, a possible story involving the young Annabelle Cane. And it ends with the words, "Don't go to Hill Top Road again. Statement ends."

She took a step back briefly, laying down bullet points of the statement, future things to look into, and other notes. This program was going to prove very, very useful.

“The walls between realities have been getting thin. And so, I contacted your. . . patron. The web takes a great deal of interest in the concept of other realities, after all. Depending on how things go in this one, it might be the only way for things to progress, and. . .”

“And you contacted the Crawling Chaos expecting a straight answer? That doesn’t seem very smart of you.”

“No, the Crawling Chaos doesn’t deal with straight information, not unless it’s a deal and exchange,” Annabelle said, giving an almost smile. “For a being of chaos, it’s very attached to its rules. We had a brief correspondence. And the crux of the matter is, the walls of this reality are wearing away because you are destabilizing them. And here’s where we come to your choice.”

It paused again. Leaving out something, it seemed, because when the computer began to talk again, it didn't make sense with the last sentence.

"But from the deal the Crawling Chaos described, there are two choices, and you have refused one of them.”

“Oh?”

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

"The program's design parameters allow for sifting through incredible amounts of data, flagging incidents and activity throughout the data set," it said, as though it were quoting something. "Originally shaped for and designed with other Fears in mind, but-- but-- but--"

It paused again, articles flashing by once more.

"Statement of Annabelle Cane," a different voice says with a sigh. "Regarding her history and her observations of the Magnus Institute, London. Original statement written 20th July, 2018. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, The Archivist. Statement begins. . ."

It goes on, a musing on the idea of fate and free will, a possible story involving the young Annabelle Cane. And it ends with the words, "Don't go to Hill Top Road again. Statement ends."

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

"The program's design parameters allow for sifting through incredible amounts of data, flagging incidents and activity throughout the data set," it said, as though it were quoting something. "Originally shaped for and designed with other Fears in mind, but-- but-- but--"

It paused again, articles flashing by once more.

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

A part of her wanted to find someone else on the crew, to have backup on this. Her thoughts seemed to cut off as soon as she thought about it, though.

Maybe that was something she should worry about.

Most mortals were not Ivy Alexandria.

But still, she'd get only glimpses, as the program sank into the web. Created its own web, if need be.

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.

Would lying be better, in this scenario? The Web didn’t rely on Knowing the way the Eye did, so it would most likely have no way of knowing if the name she chose was fake. She very much didn’t enjoy the concept of this drive knowing anything about her, especially if it already knew of her alternate self. If it did know who she was already though, lying could have consequences.

;)

“Welcome, Morgan,” the computer said out loud. “Shall we begin?”

There was something tugging, there. Something that made her keep quiet.

So Ivy was alone in the archives when she plugged the drive into the computer she’d dug out of the storage bay. Separate from Aurora’s systems, of course, Nastya would kill her if she somehow got a virus in her. She’d even dragged a second computer- an older thing, in case the higher tech didn’t work.

She let out a breath, and turned the computer on.